Crossword puzzle celebrates SAIT’s centennial

SAIT history buff? Complete this crossword puzzle for a chance to win prizes from the Calgary Historical Society.

SAIT's 100th anniversary was featured in a Calgary Herald crossword puzzle that commemorates Calgary's history. The puzzle, published Friday, July 22, was created by the Historical Society of Alberta to honour our centennial and the University of Calgary's golden anniversary.

SAIT-related questions in the crossword puzzle include references to our buildings and facilities, athletic teams, and the early days of our operation when we were known as PITA.

Think you have all the answers? Submit a completed puzzle to the Historical Society of Alberta and enter to win various prizes. Contest entry information is included in the puzzle.

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SAIT’s centennial gave us an opportunity to look back and reflect on our first 100 years. The story of SAIT began with only eleven students in a rented space and with borrowed equipment. Now, we have an alumni family of over 233,000 who have helped to build this city, this province and this country. We knew this centennial year was going to be one for the history books, but it far exceeded our expectations. Thank you for being a part of it all.
As we bring our centennial year to a close on June 30, we want to take a moment and look back at the activities and events that made the past few months so extraordinary.
100th Birthday Party
Over three days in October 2016, SAIT welcomed alumni, donors, staff, faculty and students back to campus for an epic birthday celebration that is sure to be talked about for years to come. The weekend began on Oct. 13 with An Evening of History. In the Making, a one-night-only performance that brought SAIT’s history to life on stage. The party continued on Oct. 15 when we welcomed our alumni home with a special day to celebrate their contribution to the SAIT story. On October 16, more than 20,000 people came to campus for the party. There were bouncy castles, LEGO building, and a Wheels and Wings car and aero show in the Clayton Carroll Automotive Centre. The 10-tiered birthday cake was shared by thousands and a barbecue lunch was served to the first 2,500 visitors. The 1966 time capsule contents were revealed by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and many came out to watch the Alumni Speaker Series in Macdonald Hall. The day was capped off with an outdoor concert by Juno award winner Dan Mangan, and an epic fireworks finale that lit the Calgary sky.
Relive the weekend
Photo Mosaic
More than 10,000 images were collected over 14 months to make up the Centennial Photo Mosaic that now hangs on the wall in the Irene Lewis Atrium. The giant 8 foot by 20 foot mosaic will be a lasting legacy of SAIT’s centennial celebrations and a snapshot of campus life in 2016/17.
See the mosaic and read about the exciting reveal event
2016 Time Capsule
Throughout the year, items and ideas were collected to be included in the 2016 time capsule that is to be opened on SAIT’s 200th birthday on Oct. 16, 2116. The items in the time capsule represent SAIT, Calgary, and campus life in 2016/17. The time capsule ceremony was held on June 5, 2017 in front of Heritage Hall. It was buried just near the front steps and capped with a cairn including a marble base and large silver dome sandblasted with the iconic catalyst of SAIT’s new logo.
Read a list of notable contents and watch the time capsule burial ceremony
Centennial Art
In celebration of our centennial, SAIT commissioned a special art installation by alumnus and metal artist Michael Perks (Millwright ’06). The reveal ceremony took place on the afternoon of June 5, 2017, capping off an exciting year of centennial celebration events on campus. The spectacular forged piece is 16 feet tall and 16 feet wide and is a stylized interpretation of SAIT’s catalyst symbol. You can see the sculpture for yourself in the newly named FirstEnergy Capital Corp Centennial Circle, the traffic circle on 12 Street NW off 16 Avenue North.
Watch: The centennial art unveiling
THANK YOU!
Just two weeks ago we saw the first class of SAIT’s second century cross the stage during spring convocation. SAIT’s commitment to provide hands-on, skilled-oriented training to students hasn’t changed since those first eleven students in 1916. As we look towards SAIT’s second century that philosophy and passion for student success continues to drive all that we do.
Thank you for being a part of our first hundred years, and for being an important part of SAIT’s continuing story.

When SAIT first had the idea to encourage the community to complete 100 charitable acts during our centennial year, we worried it couldn’t be done. We were even told by others that it was impossible.
They were wrong.
The 100 Projects Project rallied students, alumni, employees and friends to complete 100 Projects by June 30, 2017. By February of that year, we knew we were going to meet that goal so we stepped up our efforts and aimed to complete 150 projects in celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial.
Thanks to your efforts, we have doubled our initial goal and have completed 203 PROJECTS!
The projects range from cooking for those in need and building houses, to collecting cash and donations for groups like the SAITSA Food Bank and PAWS Animal Rescue, to creating opportunities for students such as mentoring and learning trips. The projects are as varied as the groups who participated, and they were completed across the campus, across the city, and across the globe.
SAIT Cares – the ripple effect
While the 100 Projects Project was initially started to encourage the SAIT community to give back during our centennial year, it became so much more. Volunteers were brought together with organizations that needed them. Some of the volunteers who spent time winterizing the garden at Agape Hospice in September offered to come back and became regular volunteer gardeners in the spring. During our first SAIT-led Made by Momma event in November, one volunteer immediately felt a connection to the organization and joined their group as a board member. When we came back to Made by Momma in January, she was the group kitchen coordinator. And in March, after the Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids project, one of the volunteers signed up to become a weekly volunteer for the organization.
It also became clear that giving back is a large part of the SAIT culture. Staff and faculty were among the many who volunteered, raised money and organized projects for students. It’s no wonder SAIT was named the Best Workplace in Alberta for Volunteerism and Community Involvement by Alberta Venture Magazine.
Way to go!

SAIT wrapped up its centennial celebrations on June 5 with an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime event — the burying of the centennial time capsule and the unveiling of a special art installation by SAIT alumnus and metal artist, Michael Perks.
Special guests, SAIT staff, students and alumni, including 102-year-old Clarence Hollingworth — SAIT's oldest known alumnus — filled the sidewalks on the south side of Heritage Hall for the event with Global Calgary news anchor Linda Olsen as master of ceremonies. Olsen, herself, is a graduate of SAIT's Cinema, Television, Stage and Radio (CTSR) program in 1988 and a 2015 SAIT honorary degree holder.
Another one for the books
The centennial time capsule, complete with RCMP Honour Guard escort, was interred in front of Heritage Hall, SAIT's iconic building constructed in 1921.
"SAIT has been through the ebbs and flows of history and here we are today — a century later — from humble beginnings to one of the most vibrant, relevant applied-education institutions in Canada," says Dr. David Ross, SAIT President and CEO. "We are a long-standing foundation of this community. Very few institutions, especially in western Canada, have 100 years under their belt."
SAIT collected memories throughout its centennial year to include in the 2016 time capsule which will be opened on Oct. 16, 2116. It was designed and built by SAIT employees from the School of Manufacturing and Automation, taking more than 60 hours and two cubic metres of 20-gauge stainless steel to create.
Ross continues, "It's exciting to try to envision the next century. I can only imagine what SAIT will be like on our 200th birthday when the time capsule is opened."
Time capsule facts:
The contents are protected in a PVC pipe and encase in a stainless steel sleeve
The capsule is 67 cm wide by 116 cm tall and weighs approximately 80 kg
A cairn with a marble base is set on top of the time capsule
Fourteen stainless steel nuts and bolts used
Two cubic meters of 20-gauge stainless steel used on the main body of the sleeve
Fourteen-gauge stainless steel used for the lid and bottom
The hold for the time capsule is two metres deep reinforced with 3.56 cubic metres of concrete, 152 metres of rebar, and 1.5 cubic metres of grav
Notable time capsule items:
A photo of Dr. David Ross and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in front of Heritage Hall
A 3D printed mini Heritage Hall figurine
Letters from SAIT executive leaders and board members
An empty Tool Shed Brewery SAIT Centennial Ale beer can
A Loonie and other Canadian currency
Menu from SAIT's The Highwood restaurant
Numerous photos of SAIT staff, students and alumni in 2016
SAIT Trojans athletic clothing
SAITSA (student association) memorabilia
Various SAIT student guides and award information books
The Weal, SAIT's newspaper
Centennial art installation unveiled
The centennial art installation was also unveiled on June 5 at the FirstEnergy Capital Corp Centennial Circle on the SAIT campus as special guests, SAIT staff, students and alumni looked on.
SAIT alumnus Michael Perks (Millwright '06) created a special and spectacular piece of art nearly five metres wide and five metres tall in celebration of SAIT's 100 years. The piece is an interpretation of the SAIT's catalyst symbol which is forged by five s-shape connectors, representing the people and relationships that define us — students, faculty and staff, alumni, employers and partners, and the diverse communities we serve.
Watch history in the making

This weekend, artist Michael Perks is installing his work in the FirstEnergy Capital Corp Centennial Circle (12 Street traffic circle). From Friday, June 2 at 5 pm to Monday, June 5 at 5 pm, closures will impact roads leading directly to and from the traffic circle, as well as lanes turning from 16 Avenue onto 12 Street. Be there when the sculpture is unveiled Monday, June 5 at 1:30 pm.
We appreciate your patience as we celebrate the close of our centennial celebrations! See you there!
June 5 events:
11 am 2016 Time Capsule Reveal
1:30 pm Centennial Art Unveil

Workers are busily adding 454 new names to the brick donor wall standing out front of Heritage Hall on SAIT's main campus.
The new additions are the result of a successful Buy-a-brick Campaign that ran during SAIT's centennial year. Proceeds of the campaign went to support the SAIT Opportunities Fund, which helps SAIT students every day by supporting programs and projects not covered by tuition or government. The new engravings join others previously placed on the donor wall and will total 875 sketched bricks when the wall is complete.
The finished donor wall will be ready for viewing on June 5, 2017, the same day SAIT's 2016 Time Capsule will be interred in front of Heritage Hall and a Centennial Art installation will be unveiled.
Can you find these bricks?
Donors were given the opportunity to write a personalized message on their brick. See if you can spot:
• Two duplicates
• One Star Trek reference
• One video game reference
• "Thanks" or "Thank you" appears on four different bricks.

FAQ

Classes began at SAIT ― then called the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) ― on Monday, Oct. 16, 1916. SAIT was first located in the Colonel Walker School and the adjacent police and fire stations, then in a new impressive brick building atop Calgary's North Hill, where SAIT still stands today.

Did SAIT make an impact on your life? Did it allow you to give back to someone else or your community? Were you there for an unforgettable or historic moment that just has to be shared? The centennial team wants to hear from you! Submit your story here.